Taming a Togruta
by alimination602
Summary: Ahsoka Tano during her training with Shaak Ti at the Jedi Temple.


Chapter 1- Taming a Togruta

Ahsoka Tano cleared her conscious mind. Focusing entirely on nothing, and everything. She inhaled another slow deliberate breath. She retained the breath for a few moments, allowing the oxygen swim gracefully through her system.

She raised her hand, focusing all her energy through her finger tips. She imagined the book in front of her floating, willing the object to move. She could feel it, its gentle ascent as it was influenced by her force powers.

It reached the desired height; she influenced it downwards, the object descended. She could feel a serene calm washing over her, soft velvet walls encapsulating her mind.

Suddenly the walls around her mind shattered, the book crashed violently to the floor. Her trance was broken. She opened her dark orange eyes, reawakening herself to the world around her. She couldn't understand it. She had excelled at all other aspects of her training, utilizing lightsaber and skill techniques far beyond her years.

But the simple act of influencing an item as small as a book seemed almost an almost impossible task. She could never retain the serene state of mind required to keep the book airborne. Whenever she was able to completely form the state of mind required, it could never be retained.

She took in another slow breath, preparing to resume the exercise once again. But before she could begin she was roused from her work by a monotone ringing emanating from her datapad. She retrieved the crying device, activating it as the screen flashed with alien symbols. Its message flashed on the screen, alerting her to the fact that she was already ten minutes late for her next training session. Ahsoka hurriedly gathered up her equipment, retrieving the book that had scorned her abilities and charged out the door.

"Feel the flow of energy as the force moves through you" Master Shaak Ti lead her apprentices through the stances, guiding them in art of utilizing the Force around them. Her apprentices mimicked her stances, moving through each graceful position in a mirror image of their master. "Form a serene cover around your mind, let your actions be drenched in the force an-"

The cool environment created in the training room was suddenly thrashed. The doors to the training room swung violently open, a small figure stumbling through the now open doors. Some of the apprentices began too lose their grip on their items, some struggling to retain their hold over their wavering pieces. Others completely lost control over their books, the texts crashing loudly to the metallic floor.

"My apologies Master Shaak Ti" Ashoka took her place among the other apprentices, attempting to integrate herself into the training sequence, and failing implicitly.

"Do not fret Ahsoka" Shaak Ti returned her attention to training her young protégées. "Let the force flow through your body. Embrace it, do not impede it or force it, just move with it. Let it take you wherever it wants to go"

Ashoka finally fell in sync with the others- moving her tablet gracefully through each stance Master Shaak Ti demonstrated. However Ahsoka's serene control over her book was short lived. She brought the piece up across her chest, ready to bring it back down towards her in a smooth arc, but the book continued it's ascent and struck the padawan beside her square in the torso, forcing him to cringe in pain and inevitably drop his tablet harshly onto his lowered head.

The training room erupted in a flurry of laughter, most of the students throwing the exercise to the wind and letting their tablets crash harshly to the floor. The flood of laughter was silenced by the crack of the whip of Shaak Ti's sharp clapping hands. "Training dismissed" The thundering laughter began to stifle as the students piled out of the training room.

Shaak Ti raised a hand "Ahsoka, may I speak with you a moment?"

Ahsoka froze in midstep, moving aside to allow the other apprentices to leave the training room unimpeded. The last of the apprentices stepped out of the training room, leaving Ahsoka to face her master's wrath alone. "You seem distracted Ahsoka? Are you struggling with your other studies?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "No, but for some reason every time I attempt to utilize the force. I finally get into the correct mindset and it shatters. I can't maintain it and I can't decipher why"

"It is because we Togruta's are fearsome predators, Ahsoka" Shaak Ti gestured towards the centre of the training room. She sat herself down crossed legged on the dark blue training mat, her dark brown robes cascading over themselves in a river of fabric. Ahsoka mirrored her master's pose.

"Our ancestors utilized their keen senses to hunt their prey across the dense forests of Shili, the genetic memory of their experiences now courses through the minds of every Togruta" Shaak Ti clasped her dark skinned hands against her knees. "Our finely tuned senses alert us to any sudden change in our environment no matter how subtle or spontaneous-"

Shaak Ti raised her right arm sharply, tearing a training drone from the shelf on the wall, hurling the object blindly towards Ashoka. With lightning precision Ashoka snatched the object out of the air flawlessly, presenting the captured device to Shaak Ti as if it were an offering. "And our bodies respond accordingly" Shaak Ti accepted the device and without even glancing threw the drone over her shoulder. It landed cleanly on the shelf without incident.

Shaak Ti glanced at her young apprentice, she nodded approvingly. "This unrivalled ability however comes at a price. Our awareness of our surroundings hampers our ability to utilize the force, requiring a serene state of mind which we cannot maintain for long"

Shaak Ti retrieved Ahsoka's tablet lying on the training mat between them, presenting the tablet to her. "Demonstrate your abilities" Ahsoka inhaled a deep breath, letting it out in one, slow gentle gust, attempting to clear her mind of all the conflicting thoughts polluting her psyche. She pictured the tablet levitating, it's graceful ascent as she influenced it, she could feel its movement in the force, the silent call as it rose upwards.

A sound blared outside of the temple window. Ashoka snapped her head sideways, her sharpened teeth bared to face this new threat, only to watch as a Courasant Security Force police cruiser pursued a rampant speeder past the spire of the temple. Ashoka, finally realizing the supposed threat was none existent, returned to her task. She quickly realized however that she had already failed, the book lying flat on the cold metallic floor.

Shaak Ti looked across at Ahsoka disapprovingly. She retrieved the book, looking over it and bouncing it between her hands, pondering. She passed the book to Ahsoka. "It looks as though we are going to have to try something a little more intensive".


End file.
